Thrifty Tip #4: Become a Student of History

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Benjamin Franklin

Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.

Benjamin Franklin

When practising thrifty living it pays to become a student of history.

I don't mean that we should idealise the past over the present, but we can certainly learn from previous times when the adage "waste not, want not" was taken very seriously indeed.

Old cook books and books of household hints can be especially informative when it comes to preparing simple, inexpensive meals from scratch and learning how to keep household items clean without the array of cleaning products available in the supermarket aisles.

Even fictional books can be informative.  Who hasn't enjoyed reading about how Ma Ingalls (in Little House in the Big Woods) boiled onion skins to make her butter a pretty golden colour in the winter?  We are unlikely to want to dye our butter nowadays, but we can certainly learn from Mrs Ingalls' example of creating beauty from things that might otherwise be discarded.

Tips from history can also be gained from the internet.  I have especially watching the Cooking with Clara series on YouTube.  In her videos Clara Cannucciari, now 96 years of age, shares the recipes her mother made in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

As the topic of this post is about learning from history, I'd like to finish with a quote from one of history's greatest characters and an expert on thrift, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790):

The borrower is a slave to the lender, and the debtor to the creditor, disdain the chain, preserve your freedom; and maintain your independency: be industrious and free; be frugal and free ...

For age and want, save while you may; No morning sun lasts a whole day .

 From The Way to Wealth, Preface to Poor Richard Improved

This post is part of my series, Thirty Days of Thrifty Tips.